Iowans are breathing a sigh of relief as we bask in a few days of moderate temperatures. The summer has been one of endurance and change for sure. A big change in my world has been the way I eat and by proxy the way Champ eats. My journey toward a Paleo diet has happened by degrees over several years. I decided to share this here in case anyone who follows me has experience similar health issues and has yet to find a solution.
I’ll start by saying, I have lost respect over the years for the world of conventional medicine. I think it has its place and is wonderous if you suffer a traumatic injury or medical emergency or are born too early. But when it comes to over all health and the epidemic of chronic health issues that has gripped our society this past few decades, todays doctors seem to be clueless about nutrition or how to avoid feeling the way we do. They only know reactionary responses like throwing a drug at it without trying to figure out the root cause. My first experience was about 12 years ago when I was having severe nerve pain and numbness in my extremities. After only asking a couple of questions, my Primary Care doc told me I had fibromyalgia and got out her pad to write me a prescription for Lyrica. I almost ran out of the office! The next day I mentioned the interaction to my chiropractor as he was giving me an adjustment and he asked how much artificial sweetener I ate. He told me the evils of the chemicals in them and told me to start reading labels, gave me a list of generic names for said evil substances and started me on a B-Complex Vitamin regimen with strict orders to stop eating anything with artificial sweetener immediately. He also said it would take about 6 months to turn things around but assured me it would work. He was right.
Next stop on the journey was my old arthritic joints that are a result of playing too hard and working even harder in my younger years. I started researching the evils of refined sugars and inflammation. I decided on my own about 4 years ago to cut refined sugar out of my diet as much as possible. Guess what? My joints quit hurting, and I lost 30 pounds that I have kept off since.
All this time I have dealt with a sluggish lower GI track. I do a good deal of nutrition research anyway since my daughter was diagnosed with Celiac at age 19 after being sick her whole life. Again, conventional medicine failed her miserably as a child and teenager and still struggles to give her any real answers about her autoimmune issues. As her symptoms and issues have compounded over time I dive deeper into researching my hunch that everything circles back to what we put in our bodies. I have felt for many years that most of what is wrong with us is the crap that they call food that we buy at the grocery store and fuel ourselves with. The more I researched gut health the more I learned that over the counter meds for headaches, joint pain, acid reflux and a host of other aggravations we don’t like to feel are destroying our gut health and leading to most of what ails us. They are supposed to be safe right? I think the FDA has a very different definition of safe than I do. Safe for the health of the drug business maybe but not our bodies. I also read a lot about the grains we eat today what I call Frankengrain. The genetic tampering with our crops is down right scary.
What did I have to lose? I have always grown vegetables and cook from scratch. As I read several books about Paleo style eating I realized there are several levels of ‘compliance’ to the diet but the root philosophy is eat whole foods, local if you can and stay the hell away from refined sugar, dairy and grain of any kind. Eat like the Hunter Gatherers did. I realized quickly I had been moving in that direction with my diet for several years and I love vegetables so much Champ says I’m part rabbit. It wasn’t that big a leap for me. Champ would tell a different story. He eats Paleo dinners with me and I have noticed on his own he is making better food choices for himself for breakfast and lunch. He’ll never admit it, but he is noticing a difference too.
I say I’m practically Paleo because although I follow the main principles day to day and eat 7-9 servings of vegetables each day (it takes a lot of veggies to replace all that pasta and cereal!) I do occasionally drink a beer. It usually upsets my stomach now so I’m not as inclined as I used to be. I do eat brown rice a couple of times a month. I am not eating $12.00 a lb. grass fed hamburger but do buy better quality meats. And I’m pretty sure the chickens that lay the eggs I buy at the store, do not have names, nor are aloud in the house of the person who owns them. I am buying more than ever at local Farmer’s Markets and am going to start exploring local meat lockers for locally sourced meat. It’s a progression.
The cool part is I feel better than I have in years. The chronic burning pain in my gut has disappeared, I’m more regular that I was. My energy level stays consistent throughout the day, I am sleeping better, and I have only had one headache since three days after making the switch 9 weeks ago. A three-day migraine a couple of times a month and nagging tension headaches the rest of the time was par for the course for me before. Champ has been able to stop taking is OTC purple pill for acid reflux that he as taken for several years. The best part is we have both lost about 5 lbs. without really trying.
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Colorful Paleo Dinner[/caption]I’m not saying I’ve found the fountain of youth, or a magic bullet. I do however believe more than ever that how we eat as a dramatic effect on how we feel. I do my yoga practice and stay strong as I can and eat a loose version of a Paleo diet and I feel great. I am now officially decaffeinated. I love what I eat each day and I love cooking even more these days. One thing I can say about Paleo food is “It sure is pretty”! The only thing I really miss is Pizza. I REALLY miss pizza.
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